I purchased a Mitchell Tenor Uke and I tuned it to GCEA... I believe it's called 'C' tuning.... and when I play any chord it comes out wrong. An E might be a C, etc. There isn't any consistency, it just sounds nasty. Help would be VERY appreciated. Thank you!

russ_buss

07-14-2008, 03:17 PM

hi Tanner, you are correct, GCEA tuning is considered C tuning. as for your chord problem, maybe you've got it tuned incorrectly. see if it matches up with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk_Ot02AUbc

oh and welcome to the underground!

Tanner

07-14-2008, 03:20 PM

Thanks for the quick response. Here's some more info though. Each 'string' is tuned correctly based on the tuner, but when I try the 'octave' tune (going 5-4-5-4 on the frets) the third string is off. Very strange. Am I being clear? Thanks again.

hold down the 5th fret on the E string and pluck the open A string. these should match.

hold down the 4th fret on the C string and pluck the open E string. these should match.

hold down the 5th fret on the G string and pluck the open C string. these should match but be one octave apart.

let me know if that helps.

Tanner

07-14-2008, 03:38 PM

Alright, so I think I'm starting to understand. The 'A,E,C,G' tuning is based on the chords and not the individual strings? Could you elaborate any more on 'open' chords, etc...

The way I'm hearing it is to hold down a string but pluck another one... so it's not making much sense in my head. Thanks.

deach

07-14-2008, 04:05 PM

...
The way I'm hearing it is to hold down a string but pluck another one... so it's not making much sense in my head. Thanks.

try strumming all the string at once

russ_buss

07-14-2008, 04:22 PM

Alright, so I think I'm starting to understand. The 'A,E,C,G' tuning is based on the chords and not the individual strings? Could you elaborate any more on 'open' chords, etc...

The way I'm hearing it is to hold down a string but pluck another one... so it's not making much sense in my head. Thanks.

hi again. i made no mention of open chords. the individual strings should be tuned GCEA, G being closer to your face, A being closer to your feet. the 4 strings should each be tuned according. if you have everything tuned like the youtube link i sent you, you should be all set to start playing.

the tuning exercise i described earlier is to compare two strings. you fret one, then pluck them each one at a time. if you're in tune, they'll match. but if you have a tuner, you don't really need to do that. it was just to correct your 5-4-5-4 thing earlier. not trying to confuse you. but just watch the youtube link again. it's illustrates pretty clearly what you should be aiming for.